Charade: Impetuous / Outrageous

Carlie waited a moment, then asked with a degree of curiosity and disbelief, “You’re really bothered that this woman walked out on you?”

He didn’t answer right away, and she prompted, “Tyler?”

“I liked her. So, yeah, it bothers me. We...well, things just really clicked. It was like I knew her already, you know?”

“But you see a lot of women.”

He didn’t dispute that, but he didn’t confirm it, either. Again, she wondered if she’d misjudged him.

“What about you, Carlie? Have you ever met anyone that really felt right from the very beginning?”

“Brenda and I were instant friends, even though we’re so different.”

“That’s not exactly what I meant, and you know it.”

No, she knew what he meant, but she couldn’t very well confide in him about her lack of a love life, about a lack of love, period. Until that night in the pool house, she hadn’t believed she would ever enjoy the sexual side of a relationship. “I was married once. But things didn’t work out.”

She jumped when Tyler reached across the seat and took her hand. “Tell me what happened.”

“No. Let it suffice to say, I was young and foolish and made some dumb mistakes. End of story.”

“You must have been hurt.”

A nervous laugh escaped her, and she covered her mouth with her hand. He’d said similar words at the pool house. She was playing a dangerous game, and it was wearing on her.

Tyler frowned at her. “Was that funny? I think I missed the punch line.”

She shook her head. “No, I’m sorry. It’s just...yes, I felt bad about it at the time. But as you can see, I got over it. Don’t worry about it, okay?”

His hand tightened on hers, and he appeared disgruntled. “You know, you should probably be really careful about hooking up with anyone again. I mean, guys can really take advantage. You deserve to be treated special.”